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Several prominent elected officials addressed the American Hotel & Lodging Association's annual Legislative Action Summit this week. Lawmakers including Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., discussed issues including the union Card Check program and pressure to extend the H-2B visa program to allow hotels to hire seasonal workers.

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No longer limited to spring breakers and bachelorette parties, women of all ages and a variety of interests are increasingly taking part in getaways with their female friends. Many hotels are catering to women with amenities and special vacation packages.

The green movement is reaching into hotel restaurants, where chefs are cooking up organic and locally grown foods as part of healthier menus. At the Little Nell, in Aspen, Colo., chef Ryan Hardy supplies the Montagna restaurant with pork, eggs and vegetables from his own farm outside the city, and other hotels are serving food grown right on site.

Hilton reports that its European hotels reduced energy use by 10% in 2007, moving the chain closer to its goal of reducing energy consumption by 15% by the end of this year. The company reports that water consumption also dropped by 5%, and Hilton is working to reduce chemical levels at hotels.

Accor, InterContinental Hotels Group and Belgium's Rezidor Hotel Group have launched plans to build more than 40 Western-style hotels in Ukraine over the next few years. Part of the market's popularity is the fact that it will host the Euro 2012 soccer championship, but there is also increased demand for higher-quality accommodations.

LaSalle Hotel Properties is teaming up with LaSalle Investment Management to invest up to $250 million in a joint venture to buy U.S. hotels in urban and resort markets. The joint venture is expected to invest up to $700 million in the hotels.